dianed

Its very sad to see whats happening to the dingo, I hate reading about them, for us their reappearance is all positive. Here on our place we have been fortunate in the last few years to see what looks like pure or as near to pure dingo,s return after 30 years. We border state forest and think the drought made them come out of the bush for water. For us they are doing a good job, the Roo and Wallaby population is under control to the point where the guys don't see many large roos ( which is all that was hunted ) when they go culling. As long as they do us no harm they are welcome on our place. They are the only natural enemy of the Kangaroo, which was getting totally out of control on our farm. Four years ago we had an eradication program of wild dogs, a totally different looking animal to the Dingoes we now have living here. I think you will find its the wild dogs that are really out of control.

I have just made some for my cats and they love them. So easy to make, I got polar fleece from Spotlight. Just made a rectangle one for the cat carrier.

No I don't think they will make your dog sick. Apparently they are very tasty little buggers....... so I am told.

I think you should move your questions to the G D discussion or H/N/G section, more experienced people than me there. The Satin Balls recipes can be googled.

Geez, just read your post. Sounds like you have two problems. Its terrible when they get old, I am currently nursing my 12.5 yo who is limping on her front leg. First of you have to sort out your young one from biting. If you don't do it now you are in for big trouble. I,m sure someone will come on and give you tips on that, but I reckon its time to get tough. Your older dog worries me, Maybe giving your older dog some space from the young one may help. Especially at wee times, keep them apart and don't let your young one bother her, if she is not well the last thing she needs is a younger one pestering her. As for the ultra sound my last dog Carla had a mass on her chest, she,d lost weight and had a cough. She,d had blood tests, a needle biopsy which came back inconclusive and cost $800 (not to mention the trip to Canberra.) My local vet did the ultra sound, I was present and could see the mass on her chest and heart. Nobody would operate on her so I took her home and nursed her till she lost so much weight and stopped eating. It was very sad but I ended up having her pts. They thought it was lung cancer. The ultra sound was not expensive but it showed the large mass. If I remember she had a low white cell count. Have you tried satin balls to tempt her appetite, I just wish I knew about them when Carla was sick or some Nutrigel from the vet.

Ive had a similar problem with my older dog so I made up satin balls and they really do put weight on a dog very quickly. I make and freeze them ahead of time.

Its the opposite in this place. I use the Dog Pro brand as well and my 2 have a couple every night. The signal is when I clean my teeth they dive in and take a couple back their beds and noisily munch on them. Its a ritual, then its off to sleep crumbs and all. Sounds like your dog loved them and was all excited, my younger one throws hers up in the air and catches them sometimes.

Have you ever lived there before? I have and IMO its a dump of a place, to many people in one small country for my liking.That said I have many Italian/Aussie relatives and they all prefer to live here. Good luck, it will be an adventure.

For anyone interested The Reject Shop has heated a variety of heated pet beds for dog and cats on sale at the moment. Prices vary from $35 for a small round bed for a cat or dog to large flat beds $50.

I,m all for DIY. No Clarke rubber place here either but the local Sofa manufacture cut me two squares of 4 inch foam rubber ( the better quality one) for their night beds. I later got covers made in a waterproof suede. Their day beds are big bags stuffed with alpaca wool which I have to plump up occasionally, I made covers from upholstery offcuts and used a strip of velcro to close them up.. All beds are still holding up well two years later. A single foam mattress cut into beds would do if you have more than one animal, its so easy to make covers if you sew.

You just need the toy stuffing from places like spotlight. When I was making them, I was selling labrador sized ones for around the $100 mark. If you use the toy stuffing, its washable too. Just make sure you reinforce the seams, by going over it a couple of times. You'll find patterns on the net. I made some donut beds last week for my cats from an online pattern.The size would suit a small dog as well. I used polar fleece and stuffed them with alpaca wool and stuffing from Spotlight. They are very easy to make, for a larger dog you,d just have to adjust the size.

Twice in the last two years I have been to another vet in the next town for a second opinion. The last time was 2 weeks ago when I was told my cat had hyperthyroidism. I was up front and explained that I wanted a T4 blood test. The result came back with a very high reading confirming what my local vet had told me. the first blood test was an overall test done on their in house blood testing machine. Those findings would not have been good enough for the specialist vet who is treating her now.For the cost $120 my mind was at ease.

Sounds like they are just the thing for arthritic dogs on a cold Canberra night. She has two elderly ACD,s who like to sleep separately so she is getting one each, they are past the chewing stage. I don't know why she doesn't let them have free range in the house, I have a feeling one shat on her white carpet once and I do know they keep her awake if they are in the bedroom (quite the opposite of my two who sleep soundly all night).

Thanks CW EW, Charlie sounds like he is smarter than you. I think my friend locks her 2 in the laundry as they make to many breathing noises and keep her awake. I was wondering about the cheaper ones as opposed to the dearer ones on the MY Pet website. I suppose she could try one and then if it works buy another.

Hi All, I have a friend moving back to Canberra and she is thinking of getting two heated beds/ pads for her dogs. Has anyone any experience with them? She doesn't want the ones you put in the microwave.

We are very surprised out two haven't had a go at the dog, just one scratch and that would be the end of it I am sure. Maybe one day

Yes you can. I had the same problem when I got 2 kittens in March. I already had an older cat which my young dog accepted but when I introduced the new ones she just wanted to chase and mouth them. First off it was sight only thru the glass door, her outside them in or vice versa. At night the kittens where locked away in another room. I put my dog on a lead and tied her to the chair base inside so she could see the kittens but not touch, I used to sit with her while they played around her, this probably took 3 weeks. We,ve now progressed to sleeping on the couch together and them playing with her bushy tail, but every so often she will nudge them, so she,s sent back to her bed. They are now nearly 6 months old and can get out of her way, in all this time I cant understand how they have never tried to swipe her. She tries to play games with them but she is just to big and rough. Its my dogs job? to keep the foxes and roos away from the garden so shes very prey driven. Persistence and patience I,m afraid and the word no many times over. Hope this helps you.....

Candles lit here on the south coast.

I keep an axe and block of wood handy for such things. Even a small tomahawk would do the job.

For a bit of a change from raw I once tried both the VIP and the Scotty,s Premium Rolls which are advertised as preservative free but my dogs didn't fancy them.. They ate a bit of the Scotty,s Pro Peak which smelt strongly of garlic, as with all our reject food the resident magpies really loved it. If I had dogs that ate them I,d probably say the Scottys Rolls are what I would get as some have a high vegetable content.

When you do narrow down what breed you want you will have to investigate that particular dogs personality and traits. That's my opinion anyway, maybe others differ. It will not matter whether the dog is a small or large breed all sizes will chase or round up if its to their liking. I have 2 female rescue gsd,s and I live on a rural property. One chased the cows when I got her and got the shock of her life when they turned and chased her. My other one showed no interest and goes the long way round the herd just to avoid them. Fortunately our cattle are very aware of dogs having had lots of experience with wild dogs and put my young dog back in her place. You will have to train it to accept farm animals if its had no contact with any, as you would if you had a pup. I cant see that as a problem if you are prepared to put the time in. A few rolls of chook wire around the yard or boundary fence would give you peace of mind and it would let the dog know its "yard" You can take the rolls with you if you move house. All we have is a 4 strand barb and its quite funny but my dogs don't go outside that unless I am with them even though we are slap bang in the middle of 650 acres! If its allowed to come and go inside I am sure it will stay close by as mine do with me, all dogs love human contact. Good luck in your search. And if you are interested in a shepherd try "Save a Shepherd" at Goulburn.

The ones my two eat are called Dogpro made by Hypro in Sydney. oven baked, no artificial colours , flavours or artificial preservative?. Main ingredients wheat meal & meat meal, they have 3 or 4 a day. I buy them at the local produce store, they also like the other brand mentioned but these are a $6 cheaper at $23 for 10 Kgs , plus they like them better. Like you I have tried different bags of kibble ranging from Royal Canin, Uncle Albers, Great Barko (which they liked but no longer stock in my town) Coprice to Optimum. I gave up and now feed chicken necks, fresh pets mince, bones & the 4x2,s if they want to top up. My 2 refused to eat those meat loafs.

Its lovely to see a Shep get a new home, maybe the back end wobbles are lack of exercise and time will fix that. When I got my beautiful Carla 11 years ago she was in a very similar condition, she was 14 months old then. She,d loose her footing the same way, she soon came good with plenty of food and exercise and we had no troubles with her hips. He looks a lovely boy.

Have you tried the fat/satin ball recipe that you make up yourself. I have been feeding it to my girl to put weight on her, shes a finicky eater but she loves them and it does work wonders. I have not heard of this recipe, would you be able to let me know it please, she is having a bandage change/check up on Monday so I am going to get my vet to do the full works on her. She is still just nibbling her food and I am quite frantic now as she looks horrible, I have not weighed her as I dont want to know, but she looks like she has lost more weight, I just dont want to loose her. * The recipe is one I adapted and works for us, 1kg + human grade cheapest mince beef, pkt cream cheese, 6 egg yolks, cup of oatmeal soaked in milk, cup of wheatgerm, container of home brand peanut butter. Mix up with hands and make into medium size balls and freeze. Sophie eats them half frozen or the last lot I cooked slightly in the microwave. I works for her and I am making more today. She has 3 or 4 with her meal at night. For a dog who is very fussy I was surprised when she ate them.

My first gsd lived to 13.5, her 2 daughters nearly as old. They lived on a farm and had buckets of fresh milk straight from the cow, fresh veal! from any stillborn calf at calving time,plenty of eggs plus dry food, pets mince and table scraps. They had no illnesses or cancers like my current dogs have had. (My oldest cat from that era made 19.5 years).